What ended my relationship with traditional television (six months and counting...) was a year-long fight with Comcast. I won't get into the gory details, but will offer three pieces of advice if you're a customer of Xfinity, Comcast, Con-artists, X-Men, or whatever they're calling themselves these days:
1.) Always ask if the rate they're offering you is a special. Don't trust anything they say.
2.) If you have direct payment, check your statements diligently to make sure the charges are what you believe they should be.
3.) If you're ever transferred to the "Customer Retention Department", know that the person who picks up the phone has no interest in retaining you as a customer. In all likelihood, this person will do everything they can to bully you into submission or force you into canceling. As an example, my "Customer Retention Representative" accused me of lying and questioned the existence of my mother-in-law (it's a long story).
After a year of almost weekly "chats" with my friends at Comcast, this was the last straw. I canceled my service, bought an AppleTV, and weaned myself from marathons of "Millionaire Matchmaker."
To be fair, details are twitchy. Some, including Rachel Maddow (via an appearance on Bill Maher's HBO show), say the decision was mutual. Others say he was fired because NBC's new overlords (aka Comcast...as of yesterday) don't think he knows how to play nice. I tend to think the latter is closer to the truth and not just because of my ugly break-up with Comcast. There have been rumblings since the FCC started considering the buyout of NBC by Comcast that the monopolistic cable provider wanted changes over at MSNBC. The fact that the deal was approved yesterday and Olbermann is out today (coinciding with the departure of NBC chief Jeff Zucker, one of Olbermann's biggest advocates) seems like too much of a coincidence.
To be sure, Olbermann never had a reputation for towing the line or holding his tongue. In November, he was suspended for making campaign contributions that fell outside the rules MSNBC has for its hosts (despite the fact Joe Scarborough was allowed to make such contributions until media outlets began to point out the double standard). Behind the scenes, many reports suggested there was no love lost between Olbermann and his bosses. He suggested as much on his show and even referred to the strife in his farewell. While his ratings had declined over the last year, he was responsible for landing MSNBC at a comfortable second place (behind Fox, but ahead of CNN) in the cable news wars. He was, as of yesterday, the highest rated show on MSNBC.
Love him or hate him, he was the counter-voice to people like Bill O'Reilly. And unlike other supposedly left-leaning hosts before him, Olbermann apologetically wore his liberal views on his sleeve and had no problem calling out the bullshit of politicians and other political pundits.
With the end of "Countdown", there's one less voice on air who believes that health care should be a right, big business is less important that worker rights, and the wealthiest among us should pay their fair share. Last year, Olbermann suspended and then revived a lighter version of his "Worst Persons in the World" segment, which called out bad behavior by GOP members and media. Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Lou Dobbs were frequent targets. He was criticized for the segment and that was why, supposedly, he chose to do away with its harsher tone. Olbermann softened while Limbaugh continued to compare Democrats to Nazis and Glenn Beck predicted the end of the world and called President Obama a racist. Then, of course, there's Sarah Palin and that now infamous crosshairs political poster.
Olbermann may have had his critics and his abrupt departure raises questions about what's to become of MSBNC, but, at least by me and the people who enjoyed his show, "Countdown" will be remembered as an unflinching watchdog for the more liberally-minded. I'll miss his perspective and, unlike Comcast, hope we meet again soon.
